US6234609B1 - High Young's modulus thermoelastic ink jet printing mechanism - Google Patents

High Young's modulus thermoelastic ink jet printing mechanism Download PDF

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US6234609B1
US6234609B1 US09/112,755 US11275598A US6234609B1 US 6234609 B1 US6234609 B1 US 6234609B1 US 11275598 A US11275598 A US 11275598A US 6234609 B1 US6234609 B1 US 6234609B1
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ink
nozzle
ejection
paddle
nozzle arrangement
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Kia Silverbrook
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Zamtec Ltd
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Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
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Priority claimed from AUPO9391A external-priority patent/AUPO939197A0/en
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
    • H04N5/222—Studio circuitry; Studio devices; Studio equipment
    • H04N5/262—Studio circuits, e.g. for mixing, switching-over, change of character of image, other special effects ; Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects
    • H04N5/2628—Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14427—Structure of ink jet print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
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    • B41J2/1628—Manufacturing processes etching dry etching
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
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    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
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    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
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    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
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    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
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    • B41J2/1642—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by CVD [chemical vapor deposition]
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
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    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
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    • B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
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    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
    • B41J2/1645—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by spincoating
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
    • B41J2/1646—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by sputtering
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1648—Production of print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17596—Ink pumps, ink valves
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
    • B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
    • B82Y30/00—Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K1/00—Methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion
    • G06K1/12—Methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion otherwise than by punching
    • G06K1/121—Methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion otherwise than by punching by printing code marks
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K19/00—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
    • G06K19/06—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
    • G06K19/06009—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code with optically detectable marking
    • G06K19/06037—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code with optically detectable marking multi-dimensional coding
    • G—PHYSICS
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    • G06K7/10—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
    • G06K7/14—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light
    • G—PHYSICS
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    • G06K7/10—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
    • G06K7/14—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light
    • G06K7/1404—Methods for optical code recognition
    • G06K7/1408—Methods for optical code recognition the method being specifically adapted for the type of code
    • G06K7/1417—2D bar codes
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11C—STATIC STORES
    • G11C11/00—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor
    • G11C11/56—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using storage elements with more than two stable states represented by steps, e.g. of voltage, current, phase, frequency
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/165—Preventing or detecting of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
    • B41J2/16585—Preventing or detecting of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles for paper-width or non-reciprocating print heads
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2002/041—Electromagnetic transducer

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of inkjet printing and, in particular, discloses a High Young's Modulus Thermoelastic Inkjet Printer.
  • Ink Jet printers themselves come in many different types.
  • the utilisation of a continuous stream of ink in ink jet printing appears to date back to at least 1929 wherein U.S. Pat. No. 1,941,001 by Hansell discloses a simple form of continuous stream electro-static ink jet printing.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,275 by Sweet also discloses a process of a continuous ink jet printing including the step wherein the ink jet stream is modulated by a high frequency electro-static field so as to cause drop separation. This technique is still utilized by several manufacturers including Elmjet and Scitex (see also U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,437 by Sweet et al)
  • Piezo-electric ink jet printers are also one form of commonly utilized ink jet printing device. Piezo-electric systems are disclosed by Kyser et. al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398 (1970) which utilizes a diaphragm mode of operation, by Zolten in U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,212 (1970) which discloses a squeeze mode of operation of a piezo electric crystal, Stemme in U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,120 (1972) discloses a bend mode of piezo-electric operation, Howkins in U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,601 discloses a Piezo electric push mode actuation of the ink jet stream and Fischbeck in U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,590 which discloses a shear mode type of piezo-electric transducer element.
  • the ink jet printing techniques include those disclosed by Endo et al in GB 2007162 (1979) and Vaught et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,728. Both the aforementioned references disclose ink jet printing techniques which rely upon the activation of an electrothermal actuator which results in the creation of a bubble in a constricted space, such as a nozzle, which thereby causes the ejection of ink from an aperture connected to the confined space onto a relevant print media.
  • Printing devices utilizing the electro-thermal actuator are manufactured by manufacturers such as Canon and Hewlett Packard.
  • a printing technology should have a number of desirable attributes. These include inexpensive construction and operation, high speed operation, safe and continuous long term operation etc. Each technology may have its own advantages and disadvantages in the areas of cost, speed, quality, reliability, power usage, simplicity of construction, operation, durability and consumables.
  • an ink jet nozzle arrangement for the ejection of ink from a nozzle chamber including a nozzle chamber interconnected to an ink supply and having an ink ejection port in one wall thereof; an ejection paddle for the ejection of ink from the ink ejection port; a thermal actuator mechanism attached to an ejection paddle for the actuation of the ejection paddle causing the ejection of ink; wherein the thermal actuator comprises materials having a high young's modulus which produces a bending motion upon heating thereby causing the ejection paddle to eject ink from the ink ejection port.
  • the thermal actuator can be pivoted so as to increase the degree of travel of the ejection paddle upon actuation of the thermal actuator and can be of a horseshoe shaped form and pivoted substantially around a midpoint.
  • the pivot point can be constructed on a wall of the chamber by means of a thinned membrane, thereby allowing the thermal actuator to operate in the ambient atmosphere.
  • the nozzle chamber is constructed on a silicon wafer and the ink is supplied through the silicon wafer.
  • the thermal actuator can be constructed from a thin conductive section having a high young's modulus and a substantially thicker non conductive portion.
  • the thin conductive portion can comprise titanium diboride and the thicker portion can comprise glass.
  • the nozzle chamber walls can include a number of small sacrificial etchant holes for utilization in construction of the arrangement, the holes being of sufficiently small diameter so as to prevent the ejection of ink therefrom.
  • the arrangement can be constructed using micro-electro mechanical systems techniques including a sacrificial etch and the ejection paddle is released in the sacrificial etch to be in a prefiring position.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a nozzle arrangement in accordance with the invention
  • FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the nozzle arrangement of FIG. 1;
  • FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate the operation of the nozzle arrangement
  • FIG. 6 illustrates an array of nozzle arrangements for use with an inkjet printhead.
  • FIG. 7 provides a legend of the materials indicated in FIG. 8 to 19 ;
  • FIG. 8 to FIG. 19 illustrate sectional views of the manufacturing steps in one form of construction of an ink jet printhead nozzle.
  • the actuation of an actuator for the ejection of ink is based around the utilization of material having a High Young's modulus.
  • materials are utilized for the ejection of ink which have a high bend efficiency when thermally heated.
  • the inkjet printhead is constructed utilizing standard MEMS technology and therefore should utilize materials that are common in the construction of semi-conductor wafers.
  • Coefficient of thermal expansion The greater the coefficient of thermal expansion, the greater will be the degree of movement for any particular heating of a thermal actuator.
  • Young's Modulus provides a measure of the tensile or compressive stress of a material and is an indicator of the “strength” of the bending movement. Hence, a material having a high Young's modulus or strength is desirable.
  • Heat capacity In respect of the heat capacity, the higher the heat capacity, the greater the ability of material to absorb heat without deformation. This is an undesirable property in a thermal actuator.
  • Density The denser the material the greater the heat energy required to heat the material and again, this is an undesirable property.
  • a suitable material is titanium diboride (TiB 2 ) which has a high bend efficiency and is also regularly used in semiconductor fabrication techniques. Although this material has a High Young's modulus, the coefficient of thermal expansion is somewhat lower than other possible materials. Hence, in the preferred embodiment, a fulcrum arrangement is utilized to substantially increase the travel of a material upon heating thereby more fully utilizing the effect of the High Young's modulus material.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 there is illustrated a single nozzle arrangement 1 of an inkjet printhead constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a side perspective view of the nozzle arrangement
  • FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the nozzle arrangement of FIG. 1 .
  • the single nozzle arrangement 1 can be constructed as part of an array of nozzle arrangements formed on a silicon wafer 2 utilizing standard MEM processing techniques.
  • CMOS layer 3 On top of the silicon wafer 2 is formed a CMOS layer 3 which can include multiple metal layers formed within glass layers in accordance with the normal CMOS methodologies.
  • the wafer 2 can contain a number of etched chambers eg. 33 the chambers being etched through the wafer utilizing a deep trench silicon etcher.
  • a suitable plasma etching process can include a deep anisotropic trench etching system such as that available from SDS Systems Limited (See “Advanced Silicon Etching Using High Density Plasmas” by J. K. Bhardwaj, H. Ashraf, page 224 of Volume 2639 of the SPIE Proceedings in Micro Machining and Micro Fabrication Process Technology).
  • the preferred embodiment 1 includes two arms 4 , 5 which operate in air and are constructed from a thin 0.3 micrometer layer of titanium diboride 6 on top of a much thicker 5.8 micron layer of glass 7 .
  • the two arms 4 , 5 are joined together and pivot around a point 9 which is a thin membrane forming an enclosure which in turn forms part of the nozzle chamber 10 .
  • the arms 4 and 5 are affixed by posts 11 , 12 to lower aluminium conductive layers 14 , 15 which can form part of the CMOS layer 3 .
  • the outer surfaces of the nozzle chamber 18 can be formed from glass or nitride and provide an enclosure to be filled with ink.
  • the outer chamber 18 includes a number of etchant holes e.g. 19 which are provided for the rapid sacrificial etchant of internal cavities during construction.
  • a nozzle rim 20 is further provided around an ink ejection port 21 for the ejection of ink.
  • the paddle surface 24 is bent downwards as a result of release of the structure during fabrication.
  • a current is passed through the titanium boride layer 6 to cause heating of this layer along arms 4 and 5 .
  • the heating generally expands the T 1 B 2 layer of arms 4 and 5 which have a high young's modulus. This expansion acts to bend the arms generally downwards, which are in turn pivoted around the membrane 9 .
  • the pivoting results in a rapid upward movement of the paddle surface 24 .
  • the upward movement of the paddle surface 24 causes the ejection of ink from the nozzle chamber 21 .
  • the increase in pressure is insufficient to overcome the surface tension characteristics of the smaller etchant holes 19 with the result being that ink is ejected from the nozzle chamber hole 21 .
  • the thin titanium diboride strip 6 has a sufficiently high young's modulus so as to cause the glass layer 7 to be bent upon heating of the titanium diboride layer 6 .
  • the operation of the inkjet device can be as illustrated in FIGS. 3-5.
  • the inkjet nozzle In its quiescent state, the inkjet nozzle is as illustrated in FIG. 3, generally in the bent down position with the ink meniscus 30 forming a slight bulge and the paddle being pivoted around the membrane wall 9 .
  • the heating of the titanium diboride layer 6 causes it to expand. Subsequently, it is bent by the glass layer 7 so as to cause the pivoting of the paddle 24 around the membrane wall 9 as indicated in FIG. 4 .
  • the starting wafer is a CMOS processed wafer with suitable electrical circuitry for the operation of an array of printhead nozzles and includes aluminium layer portions 14 , 15 .
  • the CMOS wafer layer 3 can be etched down to the silicon wafer layer 2 in the area of an ink supply channel 34 .
  • a sacrificial layer can be constructed on top of the CMOS layer and planarized.
  • a suitable sacrificial material can be aluminium. This layer is planarized, masked and etched to form cavities for the glass layer 7 .
  • a glass layer is deposited on top of the sacrificial aluminium layer and etched so as to form the glass layer 7 and a layer 13 .
  • a titanium diboride layer 6 is then deposited followed by the deposition of a second sacrificial material layer, the material again can be aluminium, the layer subsequently being planarized.
  • the sacrificial etchant layer is then etched to form cavities for the deposition of the side walls eg. 9 of the top of the nozzle chamber 10 .
  • a glass layer 52 is then deposited on top of the sacrificial layer and etched so as to form a roof of the chamber layer.
  • the rim 20 ink ejection port 21 and etchant holes e.g. 19 can then be formed in the glass layer 52 utilizing suitable etching processes.
  • the sacrificial aluminium layers are sacrificially etched away so as to release the MEMS structure.
  • the ink supply channels can be formed through the back etching of the silicon wafer utilizing a deep anisotropic trench etching system such as that available from Silicon Technology Systems.
  • the deep trench etching systems can also be simultaneously utilized to separate printheads of a wafer which can then be mounted on an ink supply system and tested for operational capabilities.
  • FIG. 6 there is illustrated a portion of a printhead 40 showing a multi-colored series of inkjet nozzles suitably arranged to form a multi-colored printhead.
  • the portion is shown, partially in section so as to illustrate the through wafer etching process
  • FIG. 8 is a key to representations of various materials in these manufacturing diagrams, and those of other cross referenced ink jet configurations.
  • sacrificial material 50 e.g. aluminum
  • heater material 6 for example titanium nitride (TiN) or titanium diboride (TiB 2 ). This step is shown in FIG. 11 .
  • printheads in their packaging, which may be a molded plastic former incorporating ink channels which supply the appropriate color ink to the ink inlets at the back of the wafer.
  • TAB TAB
  • Wire bonding may also be used if the printer is to be operated with sufficient clearance to the paper.
  • the presently disclosed ink jet printing technology is potentially suited to a wide range of printing system including: color and monochrome office printers, short run digital printers, high speed digital printers, offset press supplemental printers, low cost scanning printers high speed pagewidth printers, notebook computers with in-built pagewidth printers, portable color and monochrome printers, color and monochrome copiers, color and monochrome facsimile machines, combined printer, facsimile and copying machines, label printers, large format plotters, photograph copiers, printers for digital photographic “minilabs”, video printers, PHOTO CD (PHOTO CD is a registered trade mark of the Eastman Kodak Company) printers, portable printers for PDAs, wallpaper printers, indoor sign printers, billboard printers, fabric printers, camera printers and fault tolerant commercial printer arrays.
  • PHOTO CD PHOTO CD is a registered trade mark of the Eastman Kodak Company
  • the embodiments of the invention use an ink jet printer type device. Of course many different devices could be used. However presently popular ink jet printing technologies are unlikely to be suitable.
  • thermal ink jet The most significant problem with thermal ink jet is power consumption. This is approximately 100 times that required for high speed, and stems from the energy-inefficient means of drop ejection. This involves the rapid boiling of water to produce a vapor bubble which expels the ink. Water has a very high heat capacity, and must be superheated in thermal ink jet applications. This leads to an efficiency of around 0.02%, from electricity input to drop momentum (and increased surface area) out.
  • piezoelectric ink jet The most significant problem with piezoelectric ink jet is size and cost. Piezoelectric crystals have a very small deflection at reasonable drive voltages, and therefore require a large area for each nozzle. Also, each piezoelectric actuator must be connected to its drive circuit on a separate substrate. This is not a significant problem at the current limit of around 300 nozzles per printhead, but is a major impediment to the fabrication of pagewidth printheads with 19,200 nozzles.
  • the ink jet technologies used meet the stringent requirements of in-camera digital color printing and other high quality, high speed, low cost printing applications.
  • new ink jet technologies have been created.
  • the target features include:
  • ink jet designs shown here are suitable for a wide range of digital printing systems, from battery powered one-time use digital cameras, through to desktop and network printers, and through to commercial printing systems.
  • the printhead is designed to be a monolithic 0.5 micron CMOS chip with MEMS post processing.
  • the printhead is 100 mm long, with a width which depends upon the ink jet type.
  • the smallest printhead designed is IJ38, which is 0.35 mm wide, giving a chip area of 35 square mm.
  • the print'heads each contain 19,200 nozzles plus data and control circuitry.
  • Ink is supplied to the back of the printhead by injection molded plastic ink channels.
  • the molding requires 50 micron features, which can be created using a lithographically micromachined insert in a standard injection molding tool.
  • Ink flows through holes etched through the wafer to the nozzle chambers fabricated on the front surface of the wafer.
  • the printhead is connected to the camera circuitry by tape automated bonding.
  • ink jet configurations can readily be derived from these forty-five examples by substituting alternative configurations along one or more of the 11 axes.
  • Most of the IJ01 to IJ45 examples can be made into ink jet printheads with characteristics superior to any currently available ink jet technology.
  • Suitable applications for the ink jet technologies include: Home printers, Office network printers, Short run digital printers, Commercial print systems, Fabric printers, Pocket printers, Internet WWW printers, Video printers, Medical imaging, Wide format printers, Notebook PC printers, Fax machines, Industrial printing systems, Photocopiers, Photographic minilabs etc.
US09/112,755 1997-07-15 1998-07-10 High Young's modulus thermoelastic ink jet printing mechanism Expired - Fee Related US6234609B1 (en)

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US09/798,757 US6460971B2 (en) 1997-07-15 2001-03-02 Ink jet with high young's modulus actuator

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

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AUPO7991A AUPO799197A0 (en) 1997-07-15 1997-07-15 Image processing method and apparatus (ART01)
AUPO7991 1997-07-15
AUPO9391A AUPO939197A0 (en) 1997-09-23 1997-09-23 Image creation method and apparatus (IJ32)
AUPO9391 1997-09-26

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US09/874,757 Continuation-In-Part US6435664B2 (en) 1997-07-15 2001-06-05 Nozzle arrangement that includes a thermal actuator for an ink jet printhead

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US7373083B2 (en) * 1997-03-16 2008-05-13 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Camera incorporating a releasable print roll unit
US20070201845A1 (en) * 1997-03-16 2007-08-30 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Camera Incorporating A Releasable Print Roll Unit
US6435666B1 (en) 2001-10-12 2002-08-20 Eastman Kodak Company Thermal actuator drop-on-demand apparatus and method with reduced energy
US6464341B1 (en) 2002-02-08 2002-10-15 Eastman Kodak Company Dual action thermal actuator and method of operating thereof
US6588884B1 (en) 2002-02-08 2003-07-08 Eastman Kodak Company Tri-layer thermal actuator and method of operating
US6948800B2 (en) 2002-05-15 2005-09-27 Eastman Kodak Company Snap-through thermal actuator
US20030214556A1 (en) * 2002-05-15 2003-11-20 Eastman Kodak Company Snap-through thermal actuator
US6953240B2 (en) 2002-05-15 2005-10-11 Eastman Kodak Company Snap-through thermal actuator
US6869169B2 (en) 2002-05-15 2005-03-22 Eastman Kodak Company Snap-through thermal actuator
US20050099462A1 (en) * 2002-05-15 2005-05-12 Antonio Cabal Snap-through thermal actuator
US20050099463A1 (en) * 2002-05-15 2005-05-12 Antonio Cabal Snap-through thermal actuator
US6598960B1 (en) 2002-05-23 2003-07-29 Eastman Kodak Company Multi-layer thermal actuator with optimized heater length and method of operating same
EP1380426A3 (en) * 2002-07-08 2004-06-30 EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY (a New Jersey corporation) Method of manufacturing a thermally actuated liquid control device
US20050052496A1 (en) * 2002-11-13 2005-03-10 Delametter Christopher N. Tapered multi-layer thermal actuator and method of operating same
US6817702B2 (en) 2002-11-13 2004-11-16 Eastman Kodak Company Tapered multi-layer thermal actuator and method of operating same
US6721020B1 (en) 2002-11-13 2004-04-13 Eastman Kodak Company Thermal actuator with spatial thermal pattern
US20050052498A1 (en) * 2002-11-13 2005-03-10 Delametter Christopher N. Tapered multi-layer thermal actuator and method of operating same
US20040090495A1 (en) * 2002-11-13 2004-05-13 Eastman Kodak Company Tapered multi-layer thermal actuator and method of operating same
US7029101B2 (en) 2002-11-13 2006-04-18 Eastman Kodak Company Tapered multi-layer thermal actuator and method of operating same
US7033000B2 (en) 2002-11-13 2006-04-25 Eastman Kodak Company Tapered multi-layer thermal actuator and method of operating same
US6726310B1 (en) 2002-11-14 2004-04-27 Eastman Kodak Company Printing liquid droplet ejector apparatus and method
US20040146055A1 (en) * 2002-12-26 2004-07-29 Eastman Kodak Company Thermo-mechanical actuator drop-on-demand apparatus and method with multiple drop volumes
US6896346B2 (en) 2002-12-26 2005-05-24 Eastman Kodak Company Thermo-mechanical actuator drop-on-demand apparatus and method with multiple drop volumes
US10363731B2 (en) 2014-12-18 2019-07-30 Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated Ejector device
US10981374B2 (en) 2014-12-18 2021-04-20 Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated Ejector device
US11465401B2 (en) 2014-12-18 2022-10-11 Palo Alto Research Center Incoporated Ejector device
US9996857B2 (en) 2015-03-17 2018-06-12 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Systems and methods for variable data publication

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